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4d ago

Nation’s Report Card Finds Record Low for 12th-Grade Reading and Broad Declines in Math and 8th-Grade Science

Officials cast the downturn as a long-running problem intensified by COVID that now demands targeted action.

GOETTINGEN, GERMANY - MAY 12: High school graduates of the 13th grade of the Abendygymnasium (Evening Gymnasium) write their A-levels (Abitur) in mathematics, after they could only prepare themselves for two weeks at school due to the Corona crisis on May 12, 2020 in Goettingen, Germany. Across Germany tenth graders began returning to school two weeks and twelfth graders are returning this week in cautious steps to reopen schools that have been closed since March as authorities lift lockdown measures that had been imposed to stem the spread of the virus. The A-Level examinations in Lower Saxony, which were postponed for 3 weeks due to the corona pandemic, began late and under difficult conditions. (Photo by Christian Ender/Getty Images)
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Students wait a line to enter the school on the first day of classes at New York City public schools in Manhattan, U.S., September 4, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/ File Photo
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Overview

  • The newly released NAEP results, based on tests given nationwide from January to March 2024, are the first since the pandemic for 12th-grade reading and math and for 8th-grade science.
  • Twelfth-grade reading fell to its lowest level since the exam began in 1992, while math hit its lowest since the current framework started in 2005, with 45% of seniors below NAEP’s basic level in math and 32% below basic in reading.
  • Only 22% of 12th graders reached proficiency in math and 35% in reading, and NCES officials said scores for the lowest-performing students are at historic lows.
  • Eighth-grade science scores dropped four points from 2019 to match 2009 levels, with widening achievement gaps and a re-emerging gender gap as girls saw steeper declines; 31% reached proficiency and 38% scored below basic.
  • Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the results devastating and pressed to return more control of education funding to states, while experts noted the slide began before COVID and cited factors such as chronic absenteeism and reduced long-form reading.